


Mind Walker

by SophinaBlackwood



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Kayfabe Compliant, Reality Bending, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 19:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7326844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophinaBlackwood/pseuds/SophinaBlackwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Raw June 27th, 2016] Xavier begged them not to. They don't understand how easily it is for Bray to penetrate his mind when provoked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mind Walker

“But what about you, Xavier? Do you agree with them? Because it seems to me.. like you’re a bit shook.”

Xavier knew this was a bad idea. He tried desperately, near begging, for his teammates, _his boys,_ to not go tempting the Wyatts. He is already so tired. He knows there are bags darkening under his eyes. When was the last time he got a proper sleep in two weeks? E and Kofi, they won’t shut up. They keep talking. Keep goading. The pain on his conscience gets worse and worse and doesn’t want to give in but they keep talking. They can’t feel what Xavier feels. 

Bray didn’t choose them. 

Bray Wyatt always spoke of occults and powers but Xavier foolishly never believed him. Nothing more than fear-mongering, he nodded to himself with all the confidence of his intellect. It’s a way to control people, like a dictaror or politician. A way to build armies. Charisma is more powerful than strength; Xavier knows this better than anyone. 

Words spill from Bray’s mouth, eerie and enchanting. Xavier is curious. How does Bray do that? Drawing people in with a careful tongue and a hushed chuckle. They're standing in arena filled with more people than Xavier can count and yet it all feels distant and unimportant. The edges of his vision blur and Kofi’s voice distorts until the words make nonsense. But Bray is clear, illuminating, and it rocks Xavier to his very core.

“But don’t worry, Woods. You can confide in me. You can _trust_ in me, Woods.”

Xavier doesn’t know why Bray is speaking into the microphone. Xavier hears him, even when his bearded mouth doesn’t move. It’s like Bray can read his mind and that’s more terrifying than anything in the world. It haunts him. Bray figures out all his fears but Xavier doesn’t understand how. He hasn’t told anyone how much it would destroy him if he were to lose his boys. New Day falls, Bray says and he hears in his mind over and over and over. New Day falls.

New Day will _not_ fall. 

_Snap out of it_ , Xavier tells himself, just as he does when he’s on all fours in his hotel bathroom, icy sweat stinging his forehead.

“Trust me,” says Bray.

 _Fuck off_ , Xavier screams at him, unknown if the words can even reach him.

Xavier doesn’t know why he can feel it. Why only he is pierced by Bray’s beguiling proposals. Maybe because Bray knows how desperately he wants magic to exist. How many times has he zoned out, dreaming of a million different alternate universes while wielding powers that ascend the realm of the dimension he lives in?

There are places where Xavier can summon beasts twelve feet high with the twirl of a staff. Focus willpower through his palms to conjure an energy ball. Control weather with the sweet song of an ocarina.

Magic exists in video games, yes. But not in real life. Xavier may be an escapist but he’s not stupid. And the scariest part of all this is that Bray makes him question himself. Maybe Bray found a way to manipulate the supernatural, he finds himself wondering. Only this brand of magic is not how Xavier expects. When Bray wills it, he can feel it but it doesn’t feel right.

Bray touches his soul and it’s cold and blinding and Xavier feels more alone than he ever has his entire life. More alone than when he was a young boy, bullied and ostracised with only video games as his consort. This is why he needs New Day. What is he without them? Xavier knows he can't go back to a life of loneliness. He knows how much it would shatter him. The arena is long gone. E and Kofi are gone. Xavier doesn’t know where he is anymore. Bray extends his hand and Xavier moves to take it, then hesitates. Bray scowls at the defiance and grabs Xavier’s wrist and his entire reality is ripped to shreds from under him.

“I can feel you, Xavier Woods,” Bray says in that blood-curdling drawl. “You took the first step. As I promised, New Day will fall and then your mind is mine.” A low chuckle drips like poison from his mouth and Xavier tries to pull away but Bray only clutches with more vigor. Xavier’s mouth trembles as the bitterness spreads from Bray’s touch, threatening to completely consume him.

“I’m not.. yours,” Xavier fights, fully aware how his face reflects how weak and shaken he feels. “I’m not one of your zombies. I have the power of pos--”

“Positivity is weak, Woods. Positivity is hope; not guarantee.”

The darkness he is standing on crumbles away and Xavier hangs as if he were about to fall from a cliff, saved only by Bray’s grim hold on his wrist.

“Can’t you see?” Bray grins, laughing morbidly through his words. “We’re just playing one of your little games. Can’t you see?!”

_Where is your video game magic now, Woods?_

Xavier plummets into a void below as Bray's touch vanishes and they both knows this is the darkest part of his psyche.

_New Day falls._


End file.
